---
title: Is a Chemical Engineering degree worth the debt?
cip: 1407
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is a Chemical Engineering degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **163** colleges (163 of 163 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $66,094 ($66,989 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $22,732 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.36× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $60,469–$70,614 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bachelor's | $66,094 | $22,732 | 0.36× | 163 | 163/163 |
| Master's | $71,421 | — | — | 10 | 10/10 |

## Where a Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA) | $81,524 | $17,000 |
| Carnegie Mellon University (PA) | $80,722 | $23,125 |
| Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College (LA) | $80,305 | $20,500 |
| Rice University (TX) | $78,801 | $13,178 |
| The University of Texas at Austin (TX) | $77,308 | $19,672 |
| University of Houston (TX) | $77,026 | $19,228 |
| Louisiana Tech University (LA) | $76,802 | $18,342 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $76,110 | $18,017 |
| Purdue University-Main Campus (IN) | $75,967 | $21,500 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus (GA) | $75,560 | $26,250 |
| Auburn University (AL) | $75,285 | $22,604 |
| University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI) | $75,214 | $22,565 |
| University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (MI) | $75,199 | $20,964 |
| Texas Tech University (TX) | $75,153 | $27,232 |
| Kettering University (MI) | $75,152 | $29,000 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/chemical-engineering.jsonld` · `/education/fields/chemical-engineering.json`